Stabilized nitrated starch.



V VVoodbury, county of Gloucester, and State UNITE STATES ATENT Faro n.

FLETCHER B. HOLMES, OF WOODBURY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE E. DU PONTDE NEMOURS POWDER COMPANY, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

STAB ILIZE]? NITRATED STARCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

,zPatented. J an. 7, 1908.

.lpplication filed May 20. 1907- Serial No. 374532.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FLETCHER B. HOLMES, a citizen of the United States, residing at of New Jersey, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Stabilized Nitrated Starch, of which the following is a full, clear,

and exact description.

The objectof my invention isto produce stable nitrated starch.

Nitrated starch may be used as an ex- A plosive itself, or preferably may be used as a component part of an explosive, such as where it is mixed with sodium nitrate,'.potassium nitrate, or some other ox gen carrier, with or without the addition 0 other ingredients. The difiiculty with nitrated starch. is that it is very unstable, being liable to decomposition. When such nitrated starch decomposes, which it is liable to do at ordinary temperatures, it becomes liable to spontaneous combustion.

I have discovered that I canproduce a stablenitrated starch by mixing with nitrated starch any anilid of an organic aliphatic acid, such as acetanilid ,C H N HCO-'CH.,, which I prefer to use. Anilids of the other aliphatic acids, such as formanilid, C,,H NHCH, oxanilid, (CO NIIC I-IQ etc, may also be used.

In ractice the reagent is mixed with nitrate starch produced in the ordinary and Well known manner. The mixing may be made in any manner to produce a good mixany kind of a mixer.

ture. They may be mixed wet or dry and in Preferably I mix the two, in a finely divided powdered condition, in a bowl provided with stirrcrs or paddles, and in an amount, preferably from two to five per cent, although larger and smaller amounts can be usedwith success. Ihave found three per cent. to give good results.

Having now fully described my invention,

what I claim and desire to protect by Letters.

Patent is:

1. A stable explosive consisting of a mix ture of nitrated starch and an anilid of an organic aliphatic acid, the latter being'in such proportion as to stabilize the nitrated starch.

.- 2. A stable explosive consisting of a mixture of nitrated starch and from two to five per cent. of an anilid of an organic aliphatic acid.

3. A stable explosive consisting of aniixture of nitrated starch and acetanilid, the latter beingv in such proportion as to stabilize the nitrated starch.

4. A stable explosive consisting of a mix- 

